Crescendo
by frozenSailor
Summary: "You think there's something more powerful than all of us? That's... scary. I don't want to believe in something like that. To be honest, I think I'm truly frightened. I've wanted nothing more than to fix our pasts, but now... I'd rather us all be here, together. Like we are." Zero/OC


**Crescendo**

**Summary: **Nageki Cross is the only daughter of Kaien Cross. She's always been a bit suspicious of the pureblood Yuki Kuran, and even though both of them try to make a friendship, the two come to blows over everything. Nageki's best friend is Zero, but she knows he's struggling with a lasting crush on the pretty pureblood queen. And Nageki can't help but feel just the slightest bit attracted to Yuki's husband-to-be, Kaname. With a threat on the horizon, Nageki knows everything will just be easier if she can set aside her problems and become an ally to Yuki. But it isn't that simple, especially with her past.

**A/N: **So this is my first fanfiction. _Ever. _Which means I'm pretty nervous about it. But I think it's going to come along good, which makes me happy... I think. : Hope you all like it~ It's going to pretty long, I'm hoping. So be prepared. *snaps* Also, this will probably (hopefully) follow the plot of the mangas for a bit, only until I'm ready to veer off with the main plot, which should be something around the time when Yuki would have been turning into a vampire. Also, I don't have spell-check, so there might be a few spelling errors. Enjoy~

**Disclaimer: **I only own Nageki.

...

**Chapter One**

_YEAH, I'VE BEEN LIVING IN THE STATE OF DREAMING  
LIVING IN A MAKE- BELIEVE LAND  
LIVING IN THE STATE OF DREAMING, OF DREAMING, OF DREAMING_

_- The State of Dreaming, _Marina and the Diamonds

...

The bright light had seeped through my window, making my eyes narrow into slits. Rubbing the back of my hand against my forehead, I leaned up, noticing with a short glance into the mirror that my hair was messy and poked up in sharp points all across my head, giving me a bed-head look, even though I hadn't been sleeping for more than an hour at the most.

This Disciplinary Committee thing was wearing me out day after day, and it looked as though I would never be able to catch a break. My head was constantly pounding, my eyes had dark circles underneath them constantly, and I could never manage to get homework in on time. I was jealous of my partner, Zero Kiryu, for being able to maintain a good average while still helping. I wasn't bad at academics, but the homework score definitely lowered everything.

Frowning, I snatched the brush from the table, running it through my hair.

Casting a glance towards the bed next to mine, and I hissed. Yori had left once again without waking me, and that was the reason I had woken up late. Sayori Wakaba was a patient girl with short, brown hair and soft eyes. To anyone else, she might have come off as a sweet girl, but for some reason she just wouldn't sit with me. At first, she attempted to be nice, but we both realized early on we just couldn't click. We were roommates... nothing more.

My hair had yet to be tamed, but there was nothing I could do now. I had to rush, or get to class late. And I did _not _need another tardy mark on my report card. I could possibly play sick and get a few hours of peace and quiet... Heaving a sigh, I pushed myself from the table. If I called in sick, Zero would give me hell for leaving him with all the Night Class. I couldn't understand his hatred for the vampires, but I wasn't going to question it.

Tucking my folder under my arm, I dashed outside and into the halls, noticing with some sadness that no one was in the halls, which usually meant that class had started. My cheeks heated up as I finally pushed open the door, and sighed with defeat when everyone was in their seats. "Nice of you to join us, Miss Cross. You're tardy."

"Thank _you_," I almost spit, and hopped to my seat in the back.

Waving absentmindedly to Zero, who sat next to me, I slid into my seat and opened my notebook and started to scrawl down the notes that had been plastered on the board. While I was doing that, I managed to have a sort of half-whispered conversation with Zero about the topic, asking what it was all about. I seemed to have missed more than I thought I would.

Zero Kiryu was an easily-annoyed bastard. There were times when I would do something completely innocent and he'd blow up at me, and I would be left standing, wondering what the hell I had just done. He was the kind of person who attracted people by his looks only - I could understand; those lavender eyes were killer - but sent them away by his personality. I had taken it under my wing to help him better with his social skills, but he didn't seem to want to accept my help.

"Miss Cross!" I had been in the middle of gesturing wildly to Zero. "Mind telling us the answer?"

With a sheepish expression on my face, I sent a sideways glance to Zero, trying to ask him: _What was the answer? It's obvious you were paying attention. Tell me right now. Please. _When he smiled smugly at me, I frowned deeply.

_You little shit._

Bowing my head, I shrugged. "Soviet Russia," I guessed weakly.

The teacher sighed, shaking his head. "Pay attention this time."

Nodding, I leaned back and crossed my ankles. My mind wandered to the clock above the chalk board; at lunch, I'd have to go meet with my dad about getting something done. Other than that, I had nothing to do until later, when Disciplinary Committee rolled around. And I'd be up even later than that just patroling, which meant no sleeping for me. I rubbed my eyes thoughtfully, my brain protesting at the idea of no sleep.

An idea popped into my head. Maybe I could just take a quick nap...

Spying a quick peek at the teacher, I knew that from this angle he wouldn't be able to see me if I sort of hunched down, looking like I was furiously taking notes. And if I fell asleep, Zero would cover for me... or at least wake me up by a slap to the head, which he usually did. It was worth it, especially just for a few moments rest.

Out like a light, a dream flashed behind my eyelids.

_"Kuran! That's not fair!" The ground rushed up to meet my head, and it snapped furiously upwards as I heard the resounding _crack _of my shoulder slamming into rock. The pain filtered up into my neck, my head, but I refused to act like it hurt. The young pureblood shouldn't be so cocky - I bet the power had gone to her head after her parents died._

_Of course I was sad for her. If dad had died, I'd be upset. But I wouldn't go around pushing my feelings on to other people. And that brother of hers wasn't helping her ego, either. She wasn't a piece of artwork to me, considering I had seen other vampires. But to everyone else, a pureblood was a treasure, basically, and I didn't understand it._

_"You said it was a fair fight, Nageki," Yuki mumbled, arms crossed. She was twelve, the same age as me, but we were different than ever. In an attempt to make us friends, my dad had gotten us together many times - but we always clashed. He was apparently good friends with Yuki's mother before she died. "This is fair to me."_

_"Fair means not letting me get in a punch?" I hissed._

_"Yeah." She brushed her long, silky, brown strands of hair behind her shoulder, and her brown eyes flashed. They were still full of warmth, of course. I knew she had high emotions, and didn't mean to be so rough. She just didn't _know. _I guessed living in confiment as a young kid can do that to you._

_Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "You're bleeding, Nageki."_

_Sitting up, I brushed a hand against my head and it came away, faintly stained a light red color. Wincing, I looked up. Yuki had come closer, her soft hand gently probing along my skull. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to actually break your skin..." She suddenly grew tense, freezing up._

_A whimper escaped my lips. "Yuki, you're hurting my head."_

_Suddenly breaking away from me, she looked at her hand. Sniffing it, she carefully lifted it to her mouth and licked it, ever so slowly. Just watching my heart skyrocket into my throat, and I had to look away. "I'm sorry. The blood is bothering you, right? I'll go wash up. You can go home. I'll get dad to call Kaname or something."_

_"Nageki-"_

_Yuki had wanted to say more, but I had darted away, inside the house. Inside the bathroom, I nearly torn it apart in fright, determined to find the bandages. I wasn't risking getting fed on by a pureblood. Dad had told me that only purebloods could turn other humans into vampires, and I didn't want that fate, no matter what._

_A noise in the doorway startled me. "Zero," I said, holding a hand over my heart as I watched the boy glance at the blood on my hand. "You scared me."_

_"Did Kuran do that to you?" He didn't know it was Yuki. I knew he had only heard dad mention Kuran, and had escaped to his room, thinking it was Kaname. He hated all vampires in general, but there was something in Kaname that set him off. "It was, wasn't it? I'll kill him-"_

_"It was me." The high voice had come from the hallway. Zero whirled around, and I peered around him. Yuki was looking a bit shy in the corner, her hand swirling around her locks of hair, curling it onto her fingers. "I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your head, Nageki."_

_No use holding a grudge. "It's fine." I held up the bandages. "I got help."_

_Ambling past Zero, she took them from me. "I'll help. It's the least I can do." As she went to go open them, they were stolen from her hands from Zero. She glanced at him, eyelashes fluttered as she wondered what he was doing. "I could have done it."_

_"You might have gotten thirsty," he said, voice low. "It's fine."_

_I touched her hand. "Thank you, Yuki."_

_Smiling at both of us, the young heiress skipped off, probably to go home with Kaname. We were in silence of a few moments as the bandages were wrapped around my head, which throbbed with pain. After he finished, he handed me back the container._

_"You know, about her, I think-"_

A sudden hand was gripping my hair, pulling my face off the desk. I wobbled for a moment, trying to get used to my surroundings. I gripped the underside of the table, and when my blurry eyes finally adjusted, I turned my head towards Zero, lifting my hands in a gesture, conveying: _What was that, bro? _He merely pointed forward.

The teacher gazed at me. "The answer, Miss Cross?"

For a moment, I frowned. I didn't want another mark on my report card. I raked my eyes across the notes on the board, hoping something would come up. Maybe the question, perhaps? That would help. A hand tapped my shoulder, and I looked quickly to Zero, wondering if he'd rub it in. He didn't look at me, but moved his hand and tapped my paper.

He had written the answer.

Blowing out a sigh, I grinned. "The answer is the first chemical, sir." I pointed to the chart that rested on the bottom of the chalk board.

My heart swelled when the teacher nodded. "Glad to see you're paying attention."

After class, I stacked my books into Zero's arms and smiled. "Take this to our next class, please? Thank you." Before he could object, I ran off, heading down the steps like a cheetah and rushing into the office. Knowing him, I'd end up finding my books stuffed in the class trash, or even worse - somewhere I had no clue where to find them.

Opening the door, I slipped inside.

"Nageki," a warm voice said. "How have you been?"

Over the past four years, Yuki had certainly changed. We were the same age of sixteen, and yet she looked as though she were in her early twenties. Her hair had grown considerably, while mine still floundered just below my collarbone. Her eyes were large and always warm; mine were large as well, but a cold blue color. "Hi, Yuki. I'm good."

Peeking my head around her, I waved. "Dad. I just came to drop these off." Grabbing the package from my pocket, I shook some of the contents out and set them on the desk. Yuki winced away, her face growing a bit red. "Ah, crap, sorry. I forgot..."

Dad took them from me. "They don't work?"

"Defective bullets, I guess. I was out in the town, and-"

"There was a vampire in the town that you had to shoot?" Dad had practically shot out of his seat at this news, and had adopted a worried look on his face. In my sixteen years of knowing this man, he still never seized to suprise me. I had thought when he became headmaster of Cross Academy, it would die down a bit, but it hadn't.

Chuckling lightly, I shrugged. "It wasn't bad."

Still staying a bit aways, Yuki licked her lower lip. "I didn't sense one..."

"He came out of nowhere, pretty quickly." And I wasn't going to add in the same fact that I had squealed like a five-year-old for a good five minutes throwing nothing but pebbles at the Level E's head until I finally came to my senses and grabbed my gun. "The first few bullets didn't work, so I tossed that whole package. Can I have a new one?"

"Of course. Just a moment." He slipped out of the office, leaving Yuki and I in silence.

Taking a seat, suspecting I'd be here for awhile, I looked up at Yuki. She was staring out the window, chewing her bottom lip in thought, and I wondered what she was here for. "Something troubling you, Yuki?" I asked.

"Huh?" She looked over. "No." She smiled.

"Sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you... _sure_?"

"Yes, Nageki, I am sure."

"Just making sure, you know." I smiled back at her and leaned back against the seat, crossing my arms. "I heard you failed your test the other day. How does that work? I mean, you're a pureblood and all, shouldn't that mean you're smart?"

Yuki laughed, rolling her eyes. "That's stereotypical."

I snorted, laughing. "I know. I know."

As dad came back in, he dropped the new package of vampire-repelling bullets into my lap. I took them slowly. Last time Yuki had flinched - out of fear, not out of pain. Time to test this. Hoping up, I waved the package past her. This time she didn't flinch; she bit her lip and raised an eyebrow, asking me what I was doing.

Popping the lid, I slid one out. "Open your hand, Yuki."

"No." She stared into my eyes, a spark of emotion flooding in her irises.

"It'd be the only way to try it out-"

A hand touched my arm lightly. It wasn't dad or Yuki, so I cautiously peered next to me. The tall man who had grabbed my attention was none other than Kaname Kuran, the elusive brother and fiance of Yuki herself. Personally, I had never been a fan of the pureblood customs - I knew keeping the blood pure was a big deal, but why were you forced to marry a sibling?

I was hesitating to look into his eyes. When I was younger, I was reckless and unaware of his position in the society, so I could speak to him without any restrictions. But as I grew older, and knew more about the vampire positions and how _alluring _he was, it grew harder for me to talk to him. My throat would grow hoarse and redness would spread across my cheeks and I would end up just closing my mouth and looking down.

It was happening now. "Kaname, uh, hey."

"Nageki. I just ran into Kiryu. He told me to pass on the message to you that you'd better hurry up to class, because you need partners." He smiled at me, but like always, I could tell there wasn't a trace of emotion in it. Swallowing the lump that was in my throat, I nodded.

"Thank you."

"Bye, Nageki," said Yuki, her gaze focused on Kaname. Obviously her visit had something to do with him.

After saying goodbye to everyone, I slipped outside. Taking the long way back to the science classroom, I held a hand curled up towards my chest. I really shouldn't still be acting this way to Kaname. It was odd compared to the other girls reactions - they swooned and were brave about. I was a coward who hid behind Yuki whenever he came near. My heart shouldn't beat as fast as it does whenever he's around. He's taken.

The door to the science classroom felt heavy as I pushed it open. "Ah," said the teacher, an amused grin on his face. "Looks like your partner finally showed up, Kiryu." I could tell he wanted to bag me a detention, but I slid the slip I had grabbed from dad onto the desk, and laughed inwardly when the teacher sighed as he crumpled it and tossed it into the barrel.

Starting my way up the stairs, I glanced around. Tubes were stacked in rows on everyone's desks. "What are we doing-" I started, but was hit promptly in the head by a pair of goggles. I stumbled forward, and couldn't hear for a moment over everyone's roaring laughter.

_I am glad you all find my pain amusing. _

Rubbing my head, I picked up the goggles, sent a glare to the teacher - shouldn't he be fired? - and stormed up a few more stairs, sliding into a seat across from Zero, who looked absolutely _thrilled _to be wearing goggles. Popping them on my head and over my eyes, I flashed a thumbs-up at Zero. "Don't worry! You look adorable."

A test-tube was lobbed at my head.

Catching it and almost missing it, I cursed and slid it back into the tray. "Take a compliment, will you? It wouldn't kill you..." Squinting for a moment to get all the directions on the board, I scribbled down some of it on my notebook for a moment before turning my attention back to Zero. "You're good at science, right? It's all you." I gestured at the tools.

"You're not getting out of this," was all he said before starting writing down answers and doing all tons of science crap I couldn't comprehend.

"So," I said, leaning on the palm of my hand, "that Shindo chick is looking at you-"

He glared at me. "Stop trying to set me up."

I waved my hands, and huffed. "I'm only saying! I'm not _constantly _trying to set you up, you know. I take a break every now and again." It was true, though. Ever since we finally got into school, I had been trying to set Zero up with every girl that so much as looked in his direction. I felt it would make him a better person, somehow. "It's my duty as a best friend to get you a girlfriend, mister."

"Not my best friend," he repeated.

"Am too! You don't have any other friends, which automatically qualifies me as your _best friend_. So, hah, I win. Unless, of course, you count my dad as your best friend. Or possibly Yuki- Oh, Kuran! It's Kaname, isn't it- NO THROWING PENS, YOU MEANIE!"

A book slapped my head. "No yelling, Miss Cross."

"But, teacher, he tossed a pen at me, which could have endangered my life-"

When the teacher sent me a look, I shut my mouth, sighing deeply and letting my head drop on the science table. Thankfully, class was almost over, which meant all I had to do was patrol and then a good hour or two in my nice warm bed. A bit bored now, I yawned. "So, what's up with you and Yuki? You guys seem to have a staring contest everytime you guys cross paths..."

He looked at me oddly. "No we don't."

"You so do!" I gaped. "I see it clear as day! It's a bit weird-"

Almost forcefully, he slid the paper towards me. "Your turn."

"Zero..." I picked up the pen, twirling it between my fingers. "There _is _something going on with you and Yuki, isn't there? Secret romance-"

"It wouldn't be your buisness anyways," he told me.

I sighed.

I only wanted to know because I cared.

Geez.

...

**A/N: **Done~! I'm so nervous, haha.


End file.
